No Peeking, Merlin
by between mondays
Summary: The one in which Arthur is rubbish at keeping secrets, Gwaine gets rejected, Percy makes a cake, and Arthur manages to keep one last surprise for Merlin.


**A/N:**** A modern AU, established relationship. M/M.**

**Now this is just a bit of Merthur fluff because it's fun to write - nothing serious, just a one shot. In fact, this fic is dedicated to my best friend Sian, for ****_her _****birthday! (pen name: namenotneeded)**

**Happy Birthday Sian, this is just for you. I love you! (and enjoy)**

* * *

_"Before, I wanted to say: "I found love!" But now, I want to say: "I found a person. And he belongs to me and I belong to him." _  
_― C. Joy Bell C._

* * *

"No, you've got to keep your eyes closed!"

Merlin scowled. He would have turned round to glare at the prat, but it was slightly difficult when he was being pushed up a staircase with two large hands clamped over his eyes. He stumbled over his feet a little and continued climbing.

"You really suck at surprises, you know that?" Merlin muttered. He knew exactly what was going on, Arthur hadn't exactly been subtle about it. It was Merlin's birthday, and as much as he protested that he didn't want any fuss, it seemed that Arthur had gone and ignored him again. The idiot. Merlin hadn't been oblivious to Arthur's planning in secret, what with him making hushed phone calls in their bathroom where he thought Merlin couldn't hear, and running errands and never having a spare moment. No, Merlin knew he had been planning this for weeks, and despite how rubbish Arthur had been at keeping it a surprise, his heart warmed at the thought of all the hard work Arthur must have put in, just for Merlin, just for his special day.

"Merlin."

"Yup?!"

"Shut up." Arthur shoved him up the last step. "Hey! I said no peeking!"

Merlin grinned and squeezed his eyes extra tight, his hands reaching out and steadying himself against the walls. He felt Arthur move round to face him, his warm hands dropping down from his eyes and cupping his jaw gently, thumb stroking his cheekbone back and forth.

"Now, act surprised, alright?" Arthur's voice said firmly. "I put a lot of work into this, damnit, and the others don't need to know how bad I am at keeping secrets." Merlin could feel Arthur's warm breath on his face, and he leaned into the hand resting tenderly on his cheek. He nodded.

"I will."

Merlin strained his ears for any tell-tale signs of a bunch of guests hiding in a near-by room - but they must be very good at it, he decided, as he couldn't hear a thing. He felt Arthur's hand leave his face and clasp his own hand instead, and Merlin let him guide him forwards. He held his breath - as much as he didn't want a party, he still was excited to see just what Arthur had planned for him. That familiar warmth curled in his stomach as he thought of the past few weeks; that curious stress Arthur had seemed to be under, all the rushing round organising everything...now knowing that it was all for him. Merlin smiled nervously, biting his lip and clenching Arthur's hand tightly. He heard a click and creak of a door swinging open and he opened his eyes.

"SURPRISE!"

The room erupted. Merlin had promised to himself that he wouldn't, but he couldn't help blushing as the chorus of cheery voices cried out when he stepped through the door way. They were all there; Gwaine was winking at him from where he leant against the bar - apparently, in his book, it wasn't too early for a pint; Gwen was beaming at him, one arm wrapped tightly round Lance's waist and tears starting to form in her eyes; Morgana was looking magnificent and wearing some deathly heels, her face lighting up with laughter as the streamers from the party popper she had just pulled went all over Gwaine; Percy, Leon and Gaius were all standing round a table with something that looked suspiciously like cake...oh, okay this party was looking up now. His eyes searched round the room, picking out more and more familiar faces the longer he looked - Elyan, Hunith, Mithian, Will, oh god...Arthur had even invited Freya. He hadn't seen her for years - not since...then.

She smiled at him brightly from where she stood next to his mother and Will, and Merlin felt a mutual understanding pass between the two of them. It was okay. He felt that first prickle of awkwardness fade away, and he smiled back at all of the people in front of him. All his friends. All the people he held most dear. All of them, here, in one room, _for him._

Merlin jumped as he felt Arthur's hands suddenly come down on his shoulders. He resisted the urge to shiver as Arthur's voice tickled his ear.

"Not bad, huh?!" Arthur whispered over his shoulder.

Merlin turned round to face Arthur, his arms snaking round his boyfriend's waist.

"It's alright...I suppose..." Merlin shrugs, fighting the urge not to smirk at Arthur as he watched his face fell. "Considering it's you."

"Hey!" Arthur cried indignantly, shoving Merlin lightly. "I worked hard on this!"

Merlin laughed; Arthur was so easy to wind up. He smiled at him, fingers reaching up to caress the blond hair that curved round Arthur's ears. "I love it."

"You better love it. Do you know how long I've been planning this?! I'm gonna listen to Morgana in future, she warned me organising a surprise party was stressf-"

Merlin interrupted Arthur by leaning in to close the gap and catching the blond's lips with his own, cutting off the stream of words with a kiss. After a few seconds, Merlin felt Arthur relax and melt into him, strong arms wrapping round Merlin's neck, caressing the-

"Oi!"

Merlin jumped and broke apart from Arthur's embrace on hearing Gwaine's yell... and soon became aware that the entire party was watching them closely, with varying degrees of emotion - from Gwaine smirking cheekily at them both, to Freya ducking her head slightly, smiling, to Gwen and Hunith sharing bleary eyed glances before turning back to beam at Merlin. Merlin felt a blush creep up his neck, threatening to bloom fully on his cheeks. He smiled weakly at Arthur, who hadn't taken his eyes off him.

"Stop that, you two," Gwaine shouted out, eyes still glinting. "There's plenty of time for that later -"

Merlin blushed furiously, leaning his head in to rest on Arthur's forehead coyly. The warm, curling feeling in his chest hadn't left since he had walked through the door.

"- but now, I think, it's definitely time for CAKE!" Gwaine strode proudly over to the table by Percy and Leon, and revealed a magnificent birthday cake, candles burning brightly, casting shadows round his friends's grinning faces. Someone turned off the lights, and Merlin braced himself for the humiliating, slightly out of tune 'happy birthday' singing whilst the entire room's attention focused in on him. Sure enough, Gwaine counted everyone in and lifted up cake, walking over to Merlin as Happy Birthday filled the room around him - sounding incredibly cheesy, but just... _right_ somehow, and the warm feeling swelled up into Merlin's chest.

"Make a wish!" Gwen cried out, as Merlin leaned forwards to blow out the candles. Who needs wishes, Merlin thought. He turned his head to glance at Arthur, squeezing his hand tighter in his grasp. Arthur stroked his thumb gently over Merlin's knuckles, smiling back at him.

Merlin screwed up his eyes for just moment, wanting to preserve the moment in his memory, somehow bottle up the warmth twisting and curling in his chest so he could experience it again whenever he wanted...but then he remembered. He already had it. He had Arthur. And he, and that feeling, wasn't going anywhere.

Merlin opened his eyes, seeing for a second the swirls of green and purple around the edges of his vision before they disappeared in an instant, then blew out his candles, smoke trickling off from each of them. Merlin grinned and looked up and around at the group in front of him, cheering erupting as the candles went out.

"Merlin, come on! You've got to open your presents!" someone shouted, as he felt hands on his shoulders and lower back, ushering him over to another table - a table that, when the crowd parted, was overloaded with stacks of brightly coloured presents, ribbons and golden labels glinting at him as he took in the full glory of them all. They couldn't possibly be all for him. He stood tentatively at the edge of the table, fingers twitching as he turned his head to look at Arthur.

"There's so many, Arthur...I can't have all of these-"

"Merlin!" He laughed at him, shoving a neatly wrapped present from the top of the pile into his hands. "Seriously, do you ever think of yourself? Just open them." He smiled, eyes crinkling at the edges. Merlin opened his mouth to protest, but then changed his mind and closed it, turning his gaze to the present in his hands.

"Who's it from?!" Merlin asked.

"Me!" Gwaine shouted out, suddenly appearing at Merlin's shoulder. "It is quite possibly, the best present you've ever had, and will ever have." he chuckled, grinning at Merlin. Digging his fingers in to the folded paper, Merlin ripped the present out of its wrapping - to find a black shirt and a small silver box fall onto his hands.

"Oh, Gwaine!" Merlin exclaimed. Placing the box onto the table, he held up the crisp new shirt by the shoulders and draped it across his chest, looking down in interest. He swivelled round to face the others.

"What'd you think?!" he laughed, glancing at the others for approval and took in their wide smiles and Morgana's wolf whistling as a good thing.

"Arthur helped with the sizing," Gwaine added, beaming at Merlin. Merlin turned back to the table and picked up the small silver box instead. Opening it, he saw the glint of two shining cuff links blinking up at him from where they rested on the black velvet. Looking closer, Merlin saw the tiny embellished 'M's in silver on the shiny black, and Gwaine scooted closer and whispered in his ear.

"I've bought Arthur matching ones with 'A's on them," he muttered, then leaning back and smirking at Merlin.

"They're amazing, Gwaine...really, thank you," Merlin replied, smiling wide for his out-going friend who, it turned out, could be surprisingly touching and thoughtful when he put his mind to it. "Honestly, I love them."

Merlin placed the box back on the table and turned his attention to the mound of presents towering in front of him. It seemed like he was going to be here for a while.

* * *

A poster of his favourite band and their new album from Morgana, a box of cupcakes from Percy, a book he'd been admiring in the shop window for a while from Gwen, there was so many, Merlin thought. As much as he loved every single one of the gifts, the stack of presents was lessening and the pile of torn wrapping paper was growing on the floor, and Merlin had yet to find Arthur's present. He kept searching for it, in vain, glancing up at Arthur every now and then as if silently questioning him from across the room - but Arthur didn't give away anything. Merlin wasn't worried, in fact he could feel his excitement building up, flipping in his chest - Arthur had planned something for him, something special, and knowing this but having to wait made everything else painful to endure. Arthur had already done so much; Merlin didn't think he deserved any of it, really. Merlin didn't know what he'd done to deserve Arthur at all. Some days, he could convince himself that Arthur was real, that he was really here – but most of the time…it was just surreal.

Merlin glanced around at the room, absent-mindedly picking at his cake with a plastic fork. Gwen was standing next to Lance, giggling at something Morgana had just said; something obviously quite risqué as Lance was rubbing his neck awkwardly and clearly looking for an escape from the conversation. Chuckling slightly, Merlin turned his attention to the rest of the room, noticing Gwaine shining his most dazzling smile across the table at an unfortunate girl, who, on second glance, Merlin realised was Freya. He watched with interest, smirking at Gwaine's attempts that he knew would be in vain – and sure enough, Freya soon grabbed her chance when Hunith passed them, jumping up and launching into a conversation, steering them well away from Gwaine. Catching his eye, Merlin's mouth curled up and gave a shrug, as if to say _'bad luck mate'_. Gwaine chortled back at him, shoulders shaking, not seeming to care that he just got turned down – Merlin realised that was the exact thing that made Gwaine who he was; he never took anything seriously. Never held a grudge, never let anything get to him… Merlin figured they all needed Gwaine at some moment in their lives. Even if it was just someone to laugh at on occasion.

Merlin dabbed lightly at some stray crumbs on his plate, not really feeling hungry after his third slice. It was good cake though. One of Percy's specialities, Merlin reckoned. He flicked his gaze across the crowd again, searching out for the old friend, and found him in a corner with Elyan, bouncing a squealing Mordred on his knee. It was so good to see them…all of them, everyone…his family and his friends, getting along, mixing, enjoying simply being with each other…and Merlin found himself perfectly content on sitting there just observing it. He regarded it as an honour. A privilege.

It was…just…_worth it_. Finally. Merlin felt the waves roll off him, the underlying ache in his mind leave that had been there for _so long, _longer than he could remember, long before he met Arthur, long before he moved out, so long, he could barely work out what even started it all. But it didn't matter; he could feel it finally fading, the dullness easing away as he soaked up the atmosphere and the people and the kind of feeling of rightness that was seeping into the back of his mind.

"You know, I'm quite surprised at you, Merlin."

Merlin whipped his head around at the voice, feeling warm hands come down on his shoulders; Arthur's blue eyes were sparkling, a small smile creeping on his face. He moved at sat down in a chair beside Merlin.

"Surprised at what?!"

"You haven't asked me about your present yet." Arthur spoke quietly, leaning forward a little. "Didn't you notice you hadn't received one from me?"

Merlin dropped his fork onto his plate and swivelled where he sat to properly face Arthur.

"I did notice, actually," Merlin replied. "I've been waiting...I know you've planned something..." Merlin trailed off when Arthur started to laugh…a little too manically for Merlin's liking, and he started to feel suspicious. He eyed Arthur with scrutiny. "Oh god, Arthur - what is it? What have you done - I swear, if you've bought me a freakin' magic set like last time, I _will_ kill y-"

Arthur reached out and clamped his large hand over Merlin's mouth, shutting him up effectively. Merlin jumped for a second, surprised, and then his wide eyes narrowed again, just a blue-eyed frown visible over Arthur's hand.

"Just..._wait. _You'll see soon enough." Arthur resisted the urge to laugh again, and when he seemed satisfied Merlin wasn't going to speak, he removed his hand and clasped it round Merlin's pale wrist instead, pulling him up and out of his chair. "Come on..."

Merlin groaned and gave in to Arthur, hoisting himself up and lacing his long fingers through Arthur's own. Arthur led him across the room and out a doorway to their right and left the bustling and the noise of the party behind them, which dulled considerably when Arthur pulled the door to with a click.

"Where are we going?" Merlin whispered, feeling the tingle of anticipation trickle around his shoulders and flip deep inside his chest. The corridor was deserted, with similar looking doors leading off from both sides; yet Arthur went through none of them. Merlin could hear Arthur's steady breathing as it formed in a small cloud of mist a few inches in front of him, and he guessed his own breath was doing the same. _Like a dragon, _Merlin thought in a moment of childishness - and on realising what he'd thought to himself, he shook the silly thought from his head. Damnit, he was a grown man, with a real boyfriend and everything – a boyfriend who, he might add, was still leading him into the dark – there was no time for making smoke rings in the cold air.

Merlin felt Arthur lead him round a corner and wrenched himself from the depths of his mind; they had reached the end of the corridor which turned out into an opening, an empty balcony stretching out along a fair length of the building. And then Merlin saw it. The view. That _view. _It was incredible; Arthur must have timed it perfectly…the pink sun was hanging low in the sky, lighting up the clouds that gathered around it across the horizon in a soft orange glow. Whatever was out in the distance, trees or buildings or woods, Merlin couldn't tell; it all merged together in long strip of black against the patches of orange and pink…occasionally Merlin could pick out a road or two, the yellow and red dots racing up and down along the horizon. A couple more hours and the sun would have fallen properly behind the skyline, but they had certainly arrived at the best time…it looked amazing. The feeling of _right_ inside of Merlin swelled.

"It's…it's…" Merlin couldn't describe it. He gave up and carried on soaking up the view, content with the feeling that the sun wasn't going anywhere for a few hours, that Arthur was there beside him, that things were finally fitting together after all this time. He leant his hands on the cold railings, long pale fingers curling around the metal. The soft light illuminated every vein and tendon in his fingers, and Merlin wondered for a second how Arthur's face would look like in the same light – then he remembered that he didn't have to sneak glances at small moments anymore. There was no risk of getting caught, it was open; and Merlin wasn't disappointed.

The pinky orange cast shadows round Arthur's cheekbones, highlighting his strong jawline and the slope of his nose, casting everything else in the soft glow which contrasted perfectly with the dark blue of Arthur's eyes. Eyes which noticed Merlin's attention on them and flickered to meet Merlin's own, the tendons in his long neck pulsing and moving in the light. Merlin felt the warm press of a hand come down on his own, and he broke Arthur's gaze to glance down at their entwined hands.

"I…Arthur…" Merlin began, but was cut off by Arthur bringing a finger to his lips and squeezing his hand tighter in his grasp.

"Shuush…it's almost time," Arthur said quietly, casting his eyes down for a moment to check his watch.

"Time for what?" Merlin asked, anticipation building again in his chest after it had faded on seeing the sunset. What was Arthur waiting for?

Merlin took a step closer towards Arthur until they were no more than a foot… then…a few inches apart. At this distance, Merlin could pick out every speck of blue in Arthur's eyes, memorising the patterns he found there. It was calming, knowing that he would be the only one to do this, that the patterns and shades of blue were invisible to everyone else – no one but Merlin ever stood in front of Arthur this close, for this long. Merlin could see new, unfamiliar tints of orange and pink in the corners from where the sunset was reflecting off them, and his smile grew wider. Merlin would renew his memory of them every time they came close, branding the colours on the inside of his mind so he wouldn't ever forget them. They were his. They were Arthur's.

"Just a minute," Arthur whispered, clasping both of Merlin's hands now, caressing the pale knuckles with two thumbs. "Any minute now, I promise."

Merlin was perfectly fine with waiting; he had Arthur inches away from where he was, bathed in that magical orange glow, all the people he cared for most in the world in the next room, and a feeling of content settling in his bones…it was all he wanted. He smiled out at the horizon, which was already darkening fast as the sun seemed desperate to make its escape.

Suddenly, the sky exploded – bursts of neon colour flew across the dark, dusty pink with loud cracks, and Merlin jumped in surprise, clutching Arthur's arms to steady himself. His head swivelled to look out across the sky as the fireworks continued to crack open in front of his eyes, flashing the both of them in seconds of red…blue…green…gold… Merlin's eyes grew wider in delight as he watched them, the way they would fizzle up towards the heaven, then explode just before they reached too high…soon fading out to make space for the next, and the next, and the next…

Merlin felt Arthur inch closer into his side, fingers creeping round his waist and holding him there, tight. Merlin's smile grew wider, still watching the crackling bursts of neon against the sky, and felt the tingle that Arthur's presence always brought on fill him up through every fibre of his body, causing him to shiver involuntarily. Arthur's arms responded right on cue, pulling him impossibly closer and Merlin finally wrenched his gaze off the fireworks and back onto Arthur. It was the same shades of blue, with flares of colour glistening off them every other second…Arthur's own little firework show, gleaming off his eyes as he stared into Merlin intensely.

"I think… I think this is my favourite present," Merlin mumbled, leaning his forehead against Arthur's own.

"Not Gwaine's shirt then?" Arthur muttered, quirking his eyebrow up at Merlin.

"Nah." Merlin whispered, bringing his hands up to press gently against Arthur's chest.

"Morgana's CD?"

"Nope."

"Not even the cake?!"

Merlin chuckled, eyes flickering between Arthur's eyes and his lips. "Hmmm…on second thoughts, I think Percy actually wins this one."

"Hey! _Mer_lin, I'll have you kno-"

Merlin shut him up in the best way he knew how, tilting his head the last few inches to press his lips against Arthur's, just as the last few flashes and bursts of colour went off unnoticed and then fizzled out to black.


End file.
